Cultivator attachment.



P. LOGKETT. GULTIVATOR ATTACHMENT. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 23, 1911.

1,043,119. Patented Nov. 5, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

F. LOGKETT.

CULTIVATOR ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 23, 1911.

1,043,119. 4 Patented Nov. 5, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 24 Qwumtoz wilt/"mm (L na- J UNITED S AT S PATENT FRANK Looxnr'r, or am, oKLAHouA,

GULTIVATDB ATTACHMENT.

Specification 01 Letters l atent.

, Patented Nov. 5, 1912.

Application filed September 23, 1911. Serial Iio. 650,880.

To all whom it may concern:

Be 'it known that I, FRANK LooKn'r'r, a citizen of the -United States, residing at Meno, in the county of Major and State of Oklahoma, have invented or discovered certain new and useful Improvements in Cultivator Attachments, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention has for its object to provide mechanism for thinning the plants in rows of growing crops and for destroying weds in such rowswhich cannot conven iently be reached by an ordinary cultivator, and especially to provide a device of this character whichmay be ap lied to cultivators of any usual or wel known form! tion, partly in vertical section, of a cultivator having my improvement applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a plan .view of the same partly broken away. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the thinning and weeding'device removed from the cultivator, and showing a slightly modified construction. Fig. lis a similar view of another modification. Figs. 5, 6 and 7 dotsil vienzs-illustrating further modi- 'ficat'ions'to""be"referred to.

The cultivator shown in Figs. 1 and 2 may be 0f substantially any well known form comprising, in general, a body or frame mounted on wheels 12 and carrying the usual cultivator blades 13, herein shown as four in number arranged in pairs on opposite sides of the frame. The particular construction of cultivator body forms no portion of the present invention, but usually and as herein shown includes, among other arts, a forward yoke 14:, by which the orward end of the cultivator blade frame 15 is supported from the tongue 16, and a bracket supporting a seat 18.

The thinnin and weeding device forming the subject o the present invention comprises a plant engaging member, herein shown as a bar 19'arranged transversely of the cultivator frame" between two opposit cultivator blades 13. Said bar is sup orted by arms 20 and connects the lower an real ward ends'of said arms, the opposite or for-I ward ends of the arms being connected with the cultivator frame.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the forward ends of the arms 20 are provided with loops or eyes 21 which loosely engage the upright portions of the forward yoke 14, thereby permitting the plant. engaging member 19 to be elevated and depressed relative to the cultivator frame. The plant engaging member is held nor,-

mally elevated, or in the inoperative posi-' tron shown in full lines in Fig. 1, by means of a spring 22 connected at'its lower enr with the bar 19 and at its up er end to a suitable part of the cultivator rame. Said device may be depressed, or moved, into the operative position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, by means of anoperating rod 237 connected at its lower end to the bar 19 and preferably provided at its upper end withan operating handle 24- arranged in convenient proximity to the seat 18, said rod being guided in an opening in a plate 25 secured to the arms of the seat bracket 17. The construction is such that the member or bar 19, when depressed, will occupy a position substantially opposite the adjacent cultivator blades 13 between which it is located, --that is to say in] line, transversely of the machine, with sa'id blades or, preferably, slightly in advance thereof, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

In operation the cultivator is driven along the plant row in theusual manner, the bar 19 normally. passing over all plants in said row. When it is desired to destroy a plant or weed the .rod 23 is depressed, thereby moving the bar 19 downwardly thedirection of movement of the cultivator and into engagement with the plant or weed. The forward movement of the cultivator thereupon causes said lant to be pulled down into a position w ere it will be imm'ediatelyco'vered over by the adjacent cultivator blades 13.- After .the destruction in this manner 'of .the plant or weed it is desired to remove, the pressure on the handle 24 of the rod 23 is released, whereupon the spring 22 returns the bar 19 to its normal I position.

As shown in- Fig. 3 the device is made adustable in len th, and to this end the plant engagmgmem er or bar 193 is made separate from the arms 203 and is provided Wltll angular extensions 26 each of which is -provided with a plurality .of apertures caliper- :ating-with similar apertures m the arms 203,

said apertures being arranged to receive bolts 27 whereby the bar -193and arms 203 may be ward yoke 14 asby clamp screws .214. In

this construction the elasticity of the arms 204 maintains the plant engaging member 19 in its normal elevated position, said arms being flexed by the rod 23 in order to .depress'said bar, as above described.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 6 the plant engaging bar 19 is provided with a cutting blade 195 detaehably connected with-said bar by bolts 29. With this arrangement the engagement,of the bar 19 with the plant serves to out said plant OE and destroy the same in this manner rather than by merely pulling the same down to be covered by the cultivator blades as above described. In

the constructions shown in Figs. 4 and 5 the operating rod 23 is connected with an eye 30 carried by the bar 19.

In the construction shown in Fig. 7 the arms 207 are pivoted at' 31 to arms or brackets 32 projecting from collars 217 secured to the upright portions of the forward yoke 14, as by clamp screws 218. In this construction an elevating spring similar to the spring 22 in Figs. 1 and 3 will preterably be employed.

Further modifications of the invention will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. The deviceis preferably arranged for manual operation, but it will be seen that the operating rod 23 may, if desired, be connected with any suitable mechanism whereby the same will be automatically and periodically depressed.

Having thus described my invention I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

The combination with a cultivator comprising a body and cultivator blades carriedthereby, of thinning and weeding mech- "a'ni'si'n comprising a plant engaging bar ar ranged transversely of said body between said blades and means for supporting and operating said bar constructed and arranged to move said bar into a position substantially opposite said blades, whereby, as said cultivator advances, a plant "engaged by said bar will be depressed thereby into a position to be covered by said cultivator blades.

In testimony whereof I aflix my' signature, in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK LOGKETT. Witnesses:

L. A. FERREL, N. J. GRAF. 

